Gratitude

Give Thanks

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Grateful…to show appreciation…gratitude…content with what you have…to recognize others.  It is important to pause and to give thanks for what is good, for what we have been given or for what someone else has done for our benefit.  It is a choice of attitude to be thankful instead of feeling you deserve somethings or demand and expect things.  Choosing an attitude of gratitude focuses our thoughts the positive, the good and helps to drive a feeling of greater appreciation for something or someone.  Take a moment to look around you and around your life…who needs to know you appreciate them, who are you thankful for in your life.  Tell them, and remember Jesus Christ and what He did for you so that you could be reconciled with God…and tell Him how thankful you are for what He did and is doing.  May the Word of the Lord be planted in you.

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“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100:4-5

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 in southern New Mexico)

Gratitude

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I am thankful for God’s amazing grace.  I am grateful for His love.  Each morning when I get up I look forward to time with Jesus, my morning readings and bible verses.  I have a devotional bible that provides a writing from the perspective of a follower of Jesus and it provides bible verses as a reference for each day.  I began this practice over 8 years ago and every year I learn new things about myself and my relationships.  As long as we are here God is still working on us and when He believes we are ready He will call us home.  No one knows when that will be for anyone and everyone is working through some kind of battle or struggle.  Just because we don’t see it in them does not mean they aren’t struggling or fighting through something.  Give thanks to God for your life and seek His will for how to best use your gifts.  May God’s mercy and love be with you.

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“Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”

Psalm 143:10

(This photo was taken in July of 2018 on the shore of Lake Superior in Ashland, Wisconsin)

His Love Endures Forever

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Look around the world and the things happening today, when you stop and think about all the darkness and evil present in this world and then think about that even though He knew we are broken God still sent His Son to save us.  Jesus took on all the sin for all the people in the world, He himself was innocent, yet Jesus took our punishment so that we could be reconciled with God and why did He do it?  Because of love.  When you are feeling the pain and suffering of life, when you don’t know where to turn or what to do, turn to Jesus Christ and invite Him into your heart and life.  He knows you and He loves you and He will always be there for you.  May you sense the goodness of the Lord today.

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“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.  Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 near the Minnesota and South Dakota border)

Praise The Lord

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Today is recognized as Independence Day in the US.  A holiday where people can gather and celebrate freedom.  It is a day where we should give thanks to the Lord for all we have in our lives.  Take a moment and reflect on your surroundings, people in your life…all of the good things are gifts from God.  If it is difficult to see goodness, take some time to work on your relationship with God, talk to Him and listen in the quietness of time alone with God.  You were created out of love by God, He is with you and you can have contentment, security, peace and hope for a future in a way that only God can provide by choosing to turn to Him and His One and Only Son, Jesus Christ.  God is good…all the time…and all the time…God is good!  Praise the Lord.  May the peace and joy of the Lord be with you.

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“Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, O my soul.  I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”

Psalm 146:1-2

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

The Cross

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Come to the Cross…A place to bring your burdens…Savior…Salvation…Forgiveness…Peace.  The Cross of Christ, this is the place we should turn to in all situations.  This is where God sent His One and Only Son to be crucified to save us from our sins.  This is where our relationship with God is reconciled.  There are problems and struggles everywhere you can’t change everything for everyone, but He can.  You can’t change everything but you can change something, you can change one thing that will make a difference in the world…You.  Jesus said ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.’  (John 14:6)  Open your heart and mind and invite Jesus Christ into your life everyday.  This will make the world a better place.  May God’s joy and peace be with you.

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“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

John 19:30

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 near Pike’s Peak in Colorado)

God’s Word

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Instructions…directions…guidance…wisdom…understanding.  It takes a certain attitude to be willing to follow instructions, to accept wisdom from another or to trust the guidance of someone else.  We have to be humble, willing to admit we don’t know our way around a situation or place.  This is easy when we are using one of our devices of “convenience,” a cell phone, Ipad, computer, etc.  It is more difficult when we start involving other people in our need for assistance.  We are challenged to learn how to have humility, to accept our level of knowledge for what it is and to seek out wisdom and to learn from others in history.  God’s Word is the instruction manual for life we all can use.  It provides the Way to make it through this world, it does not say do this and life will be easy and always happy.  It is more honest than that and more about providing wisdom and guidance as help from those who already have lived on earth and know the troubles human beings will have in life.  Pickup a bible and seek the understanding that God provides.  The test for this book is happening all the time in our daily life, how are you answering the multiple choice questions of your life?  May God’s mercy and grace be with you.

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“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

Psalm 119:105

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 at Sapphire Point near Dillon, Colorado)

Trust God

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I am finding myself seeing examples of the brokenness of people in my daily life interactions and experiences.  Or at least I am more aware of these things than I used to be.  It is discouraging.  We are so willing to pull and push others down for a variety of reasons.  It is so important to seek out what is good and what we have gratitude for in our lives.  If we look around with the eyes the world wants us to, we will be very negative and feeling unworthy.  If we trust in God and His goodness for our perspective it changes things dramatically.  We are never going to know all the answers or understand them while we are here, however, if we trust in the Lord we know that He is working for the good in all things.  May God’s joy and love be with you.

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“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8

(This photo was taken in June of 2018 at a lake near Plymouth , Minnesota)

Prayer And Listening

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As we work to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we may begin to focus on offering ourselves up in prayer.  To most of us when we think about prayer we thinking of speaking, however, as we can learn from our relationships with others, listening is a vital yet little used characteristic in the world.  Every strong relationship involves communication two ways.  Speaking and offering up your words and support verbally and then also taking time to sit quietly and listen.  I have been doing my reading and devotions in the early morning for several years and I choose that time for me because the world is very still and quiet in my life in the early morning and I have found I can truly meditate on God’s Word and let it soak into to my soul.  I start each day speaking and listening with the Lord and it sets my perspective and attitude for good things.  Seek the Lord and listen for His voice.  May God’s peace be with you.

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“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:27

(This photo was taken in April of 2016 at sunrise at a lake place in central Minnesota)

All Things New

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The world can get us down if we let it.  We see and hear the heart wrenching stories all too often.  People seeking vengeance and hatred and trying to create their own version of “Justice”…it is not for us to avenge.  We can choose to put our hope and trust in something way better than anything the world has to offer.  Only the Lord can restore that which is lost to evil and darkness.  Patience and persistence are the keys to faith, believe and we will see the goodness of the Lord.  He will make all things new (See Isaiah 65:17).  Here is a great song that speaks this message by Steven Curtis Chapman entitled All Things New

If you want to see a change in the world and a change in your life turn towards God and the you will begin to see the New things.  May God’s love and joy be with you.

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“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalms 139:23-24

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Arches National Park in Utah)

On Believing And Seeing

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You may have heard someone say or you may have said it yourself, a phrase such as ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’  This originated in biblical times after the resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus appeared to the disciples at a time when Thomas was not with them.  Even as one of the apostles who had been with Jesus he could not comprehend the resurrection and told his brothers…“unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.” (John 20:25)  Thomas was so sure this could not be true, that Jesus had risen, that he made this statement basically saying to the others…prove it!  Oh boy, I have been there before.  The problem with this approach to our faith is it is not faith at all…if we have to see it to believe it, what do we truly believe in?  A simple example is the wind…the air can move at very high speeds at different elevations and we know this not because we can see it move, what we can see is what it can do.  Don’t get caught being a doubting Thomas, rather learn from him and have faith in the One who knows us and can see what He has planned for our lives.  May God’s love and joy be with you.

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“We live by faith, not by sight.”

2 Corinthians 5:7

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 in White Sands National Monument in New Mexico)